Chapter 9
Application of Nanotechnology
in Agriculture
Pragati Pramanik, P. Krishnan, Aniruddha Maity, N. Mridha,
Anirban Mukherjee, and Vikas Rai
Contents
9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
9.2 Applications of Nanotechnology in Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
9.2.1 Natural Resource Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
9.2.2 Crop Improvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
9.2.3 Crop Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
9.2.4 Food Processing/Packaging Processing/Export Potential of Ethnic Foods . . . . . . 332
9.3 Protocols for Risk Assessment/Safety and Education Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
9.3.1 Protocols for Risk Assessment/Safety of Nanotechnology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
9.3.2 Recommendation for Safe Nanotechnology for Workplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
9.4 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Abstract Indian agricultural growth has reduced from about 3.6% in 1985–1995 to
less than 2% in 1995–2005. This is far below than the targeted 4% annual growth in
agricultural sector for 2020. The major concern is food grain production. Among the
many scientific advancements, nanotechnology (NT) has been identified as a potential technology for reviving the agriculture and food industry and can improve
livelihood of poor. Various sectors like health care, materials, textile, information
and communication technology (ITC), and energy can get huge benefits from
nanotechnology. In agricultural sector in particular, nanotechnology plays an important role in crop production, food processing and packaging, food security and water
purification, environmental remediation, crop improvement, and plant protection.
Agricultural productivity can be improved through nanomaterial-induced genetically improved animals and plants, site-specific drug and gene delivery of molecules
P. Pramanik (*) · P. Krishnan · N. Mridha · V. Rai
Division of Agricultural Physics, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi, India
A. Maity
Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
Division of Seed Technology, ICAR_IGFRI, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, India
A. Mukherjee
Division of Agricultural Extension, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi, India
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
N. Dasgupta et al. (eds.), Environmental Nanotechnology Volume 4, Environmental
Chemistry for a Sustainable World 32, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26668-4_9
317
Application of Nanotechnology
in Agriculture
Pragati Pramanik, P. Krishnan, Aniruddha Maity, N. Mridha,
Anirban Mukherjee, and Vikas Rai
Contents
9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
9.2 Applications of Nanotechnology in Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
9.2.1 Natural Resource Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
9.2.2 Crop Improvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
9.2.3 Crop Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
9.2.4 Food Processing/Packaging Processing/Export Potential of Ethnic Foods . . . . . . 332
9.3 Protocols for Risk Assessment/Safety and Education Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
9.3.1 Protocols for Risk Assessment/Safety of Nanotechnology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
9.3.2 Recommendation for Safe Nanotechnology for Workplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
9.4 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Abstract Indian agricultural growth has reduced from about 3.6% in 1985–1995 to
less than 2% in 1995–2005. This is far below than the targeted 4% annual growth in
agricultural sector for 2020. The major concern is food grain production. Among the
many scientific advancements, nanotechnology (NT) has been identified as a potential technology for reviving the agriculture and food industry and can improve
livelihood of poor. Various sectors like health care, materials, textile, information
and communication technology (ITC), and energy can get huge benefits from
nanotechnology. In agricultural sector in particular, nanotechnology plays an important role in crop production, food processing and packaging, food security and water
purification, environmental remediation, crop improvement, and plant protection.
Agricultural productivity can be improved through nanomaterial-induced genetically improved animals and plants, site-specific drug and gene delivery of molecules
P. Pramanik (*) · P. Krishnan · N. Mridha · V. Rai
Division of Agricultural Physics, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi, India
A. Maity
Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
Division of Seed Technology, ICAR_IGFRI, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, India
A. Mukherjee
Division of Agricultural Extension, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi, India
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
N. Dasgupta et al. (eds.), Environmental Nanotechnology Volume 4, Environmental
Chemistry for a Sustainable World 32, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26668-4_9
317